Children’s knowledge of the quantifier dou in Mandarin Chinese

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Developmental Psychology
• Child Language Acquisition

Background:

• The Mandarin Chinese quantifier dou is a complex linguistic element.
• Its precise grammatical properties and acquisition by children are subjects of ongoing theoretical debate.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate young Mandarin-speaking children's comprehension of the universal quantifier dou.
• To determine if children understand dou's properties as a Q-adverb and its quantification over wh-words.

Main Methods:

• A novel methodological technique, the Question-Statement Task, was developed.
• This task assessed children's knowledge of dou's quantificational properties.

Main Results:

• By four years of age, Mandarin-speaking children demonstrate knowledge of dou as a universal quantifier.
• Children understand that dou quantifies elements to its left and can bind variables.

Conclusions:

• Mandarin-speaking children acquire adult-like knowledge of dou-quantification early.
• This study provides evidence for the early availability of complex quantificational understanding in child language.